SAN FRANCISCO—Two dozen men, meaning one-third of the field, have a reasonable chance to win the 112th U.S. Open Sunday at the Olympic Club. That possibly even includes such long shots as Tiger Woods.

Jim Furyk again was his solid but unspectacular self — and that’s a compliment in a major championship — to shoot par and maintain his share of the lead, this time with Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, at 1-under-par 209. Woods backed up worse than almost everyone and put himself five shots back, a position from which he has never won a major.

“I got off to a little slow start, 2 over through six (holes). And I didn’t feel it was that bad, looking at the board and seeing the rest struggling,” Furyk said. “I kept myself in a good position.”

McDowell said he thought those up to 4 over still were in the hunt, but Furyk wouldn’t even guess.

“No matter what number I pick, I’m going to piss off someone that’s one (shot) higher than that,” he said. “Someone could come from pretty far back. It’s always depending on Graeme and I and the guys piling up behind us.”

At some point in a day that began with bogeys for the three co-leaders — Furyk, Woods and David Toms — challengers arose all around the golf course to meet the retreating leaders.

McDowell can get a twitchy swing now and then under pressure and hasn’t done much in majors since Pebble, but he can paste together pars from dark places and make putts at unexpected moments. He’s a big-time player.

“It doesn’t feel much different from two years ago. I guess I know what to expect now,” McDowell said. “Emotionally I went through the same experience today I did two years ago. I was anxious and I was nervous. Two years ago, the Saturday was a tough day for me. And Sunday felt a bit more normal.

“I think the handicap golfer can probably relate to some of the feelings I had today and they’d be surprised that, yes, we’re human beings and we have negative thoughts,” he added. “Everyone has their ways of dealing with them.”

Fredrik Jacobson, the 37-year-old veteran they call the Swedish Seve because of his ability to create unlikely pars, moved into solo third with 68/211. Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, the Muscles from Brussels with the jaw-dropping length off the tee, joined the fray at 212. If he hadn’t left so many putts short Saturday, he’d have slept on the lead.

All the positive stuff wasn’t necessarily European; Ernie Els, years after his peak, holed out a blind 50-yard chip at the 17th for eagle on his way to a memory-stirring 67 and 212 and Blake Adams, three years on the PGA Tour without a win, jumped in with 70 for 212. Beau Hossler, the 17-year-old amateur who obviously doesn’t understand how all this stuff is supposed to work, hung in with a 70. What made his presence in the six-way tie for eighth at 213 more remarkable was his sense of immediacy; four times he bogeyed and each time he responded immediately with a birdie. Nobody does that, particularly a 17-year-old kid.

Woods is in a knot at 214 after his six bogeys and lone birdie. The only player in the eventual top 60 worse than 75 was Toms, who ballooned to 76.

“I struggled on the greens, quite a bit,” Woods said. “They looked quick, but they putted slow. They were firmer than they were (Friday), so it was a tough feel for me to adjust to. And it was amazing how all day I kept getting half a club. Just one of those days where I was right in between clubs on about every single shot. Just never quite had the right number.”

Going into Saturday, this had seemed to be Woods’ Open to lose, given his share of the 36-hole lead and his history of turning major championship leads into trophies. But he hasn’t done it in four years, for reasons many and varied.

It was obvious early that Woods wasn’t “back” to his old ways. When he was collecting those 14 majors, he used to make the par-saving putts that certainly nobody else did as often. He deflated the opposition with them. Saturday, he deflated only himself by missing them; he had 11 feet for par on the very first hole Saturday and left it short, then had eight feet to save at the third and slightly misread it right. When he pulled a four-foot par-saver at the (relatively) easy eighth hole, he was 4 over for the day and pretty much done. He said “I’m still in the ball game,” but he always says that. His track record shows he doesn’t come from behind to win majors; for him to win requires him breaking all new ground.

But who will? At the racetrack, they’d call this a great betting race. Given Woods’ history, they’d also say it had a false favourite.

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